powell nails it

I noticed an interesting bit of phrasing by Secretary of State Colin Powell in his criticism of Trent Lott's statements that I haven't noticed hearing from many quarters in the debate over the Senate Majority Leader's future.

"There was nothing about the 1948 election or the Dixiecrat agenda that should have been acceptable in any way to any American at that time [emphasis mine] or any American now," Powell told reporters. "I will let the senator and members of the Senate deal with this issue."

There's no talk of "discarded" policies or "moving on." Powell points out the obvious fact that segregation is, and was, wrong--every bit as un-American and reprehensible in 1948 when Strom Thurmond ran for President on his pro-segregation Dixiecrat ticket. Lott's very statement that Mississippi was, or even should be, "proud" of its casting its electoral votes to the Dixiecrats is a reprehensible statement that certainly smacks of racism at the very least. Powell's comment also casts a pretty harsh light on the Republican Party's odious "Southern Strategy" that reached out to segregationist legislators displeased with the Democratic party's embracing of civil rights.